Lonehill Animal Welfare News -

August 4, 2020August 4, 2020

Welcome!

There are some wonderful people in Lonehill who, on a completely volunteer basis, take care of healthy populations of feral cats, bunnies, goats, dogs etc. They sometimes share their tales with the Lonehill Community on this Lonehill Animal Welfare News website as they depend on the public for support, donations, volunteering and sharing in their good and not so good news sometimes.
If you have any articles and photos about animal welfare to share with the Lonehill Community, you can contact the webmaster to submit such articles and photos by Tuesday at 12:00 noon. In the LRA newsletter a link is published weekly to this independent website. Articles can be any length and photos any size.

October 20, 2020October 20, 2020

FERAL CATS, RESCUES & OTHERS – 20 OCT 2020

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Desperately Seeking ……temporary fosterers over a 2 week period of the Festive Season.

Although we still have a couple of spaces available in the cattery over the festive season we have 2 cats who reside separately in the cattery full-time as they do not get on with others cats and over 16 days of the festive season, when generally the cattery is full (boarding helps pay for the shelter expenses), they need to be fostered for those 16 days.

The one is Sarah who was in foster care last year in Lonehill and was so happy and easy to handle she stayed in foster care for several weeks. She is a young adult, still playful but will happily sit on your lap all day. She loves every human in sight no matter what the age.

The other is Dolphi a male who also cannot tolerate other cats though has always been good with kittens when they have crawled thru’ the mesh of the mews and visited him. He is again a young adult. A large cat but easy to handle tho’, with lockdown, he has put on weight and unlike our other rescues he has a small space for doing his aerobics. Obviously for just 16 days the cats would need to be kept indoors and away from other cats but if you have no other cats there is no reason why after the first day or so that they cannot have free rein in the house so long as they cannot get out for this short period of time.

If anyone can assist us with the fostering of either one of these two cats please contact me.

Kittens: we have 4 litters at the moment but all too young as yet to be adopted with some of them being bottle fed. More details in future articles.

Adoptions: Approved adoption applications and home-checks apply whether it be for any of the kittens, teenagers or adult cats at the shelter.

Our adoption fee of R850 covers 1st and 2nd vacs. as well as rabies, deworming, deflea, and sterilization when done by one of our nominated Vets.
Donations: Don’t forget we have a bin just inside the doors of our local Pick’nPay for donations of pet food, i.e. cat and dog food though we do also have bunnies, chickens, ducks, geese and goats too. We also have a drop off point with Terri at Biz X-press.
Financials Donations to either:
Judy David or Cats Galore
Standard Bank
Branch code: 051001
Cheque a/c no. 002982846
Ben. Ref: “CG + cell number”
Or
Friends of Ferals
FNB
a/c no. 627 5435 9852
Branch: 250 655
Ben. Ref: “CG + Cell number”

Proof of payments to either: Judy 083 611 1333 or judy.e.david@gmail.com

Judy
083 611 1333
Judy.e.david@gmail.com

October 20, 2020October 20, 2020

CAROLE’S CAT CHRONICLES – 20 OCT 2020

Not a great deal to report this week. That does not mean we are not doing anything. We are using this time to clean out igloos and removing winter duvets and blankets. Preparing for the warmer months. Cutting back overgrowth of vegetation and making things ship shape for the warmer weather. Some of the cats are covered in black jacks so we want to eliminate these plants. Those cats that will allow us to stroke them, we try to put on frontline to avoid ticks and fleas which can cause itching and allergies.

DONATIONS

Thank you to the kind person who left a packet of ULTRA CAT in our red donation bin at Vet to Pet this week.

Cutie Pie’s hadeda and rain proof igloo was removed about three weeks ago. We don’t know why, or by whom. In any event we replaced it with another one. Here is a picture of the new one. Its a little bit larger than the one before and not ideal as it does not fit well in the original position and overhangs a bit. I tried to find a similar one but no luck so this was the best I could come up with. Its an upside down washing bowl. Push came to shove and hopefully this will do the trick. She seems to have accepted it and if no one removes it, she will have dry food and the hadedas wont be able to steal her food. Fingers crossed.

Caring for feral cats is a constant challenge. We try to keep their lives as constant and comfortable as possible. Outside influences can make this extremely difficult but we rise to the challenges every day.

Once again a reminder that all donations are welcome and we have a collection bin at VET TO PET IN LONEHILL SHOPPING CENTRE.

Carole
0824242363
caroledike@gmail.com

October 14, 2020October 14, 2020

CAROLE’S CAT CHRONICLES – 13 OCT 2020

MASSIVE CLEAN UP OF THE GARDEN AREA, LEAPING FROG
About three times a year I take it upon my self to clean up the weeds, leaves and mess that are in the area past the car wash where our cats live and socialize with us at the Leaping Frog Centre. It is common ground that the council should really be taking care of, but do not. It is manual work and so I take my gardener to help. He rakes up all the dead leaves and cuts back the overgrown plants, leaving a nice clean area to enjoy. Its hard work but the results are always worthwhile. Some cats just sleep through this exercise, just watching and resting. I hope they appreciate all the hard work we put in. We take away bags and bags of dead leaves and rubbish that has piled up. It definitely looks better afterwards.

DONATIONS
Our red bin at VET TO PET IS EMPTY these days. We really miss the donations that people drop in. No matter how small it is, it still ads up. Please stop by and drop in a tin or pouch or two, as well as pellets.

AERO
These past two weeks have been difficult for me. My own 17 year old cat, Aero, has been diagnosed with stage 3 renal failure and had severe arthritis and spondylosis of his spine. He was in hospital at Lonehill Vet and after three days on a drip with medication was allowed home. He didn’t recover well and sadly I had to make the most awful decision to let him go. My heart is broken and I miss him terribly.

Carole
0824242363

October 13, 2020October 13, 2020

FERAL CATS, RESCUES & OTHERS – 13 OCT 2020

R.I.P. Eeyore: Our handsome grey boy, Eeyore, appeared to be making a slow recovery from the paralysis in the back legs which was giving us time to raise the funds to do more investigatory work to establish the cause which would involve full bloods, x-rays and possibly an MRI, however, Sunday evening he took a turn for the worse and became paralysed also in the front legs and could only lift his head. He was scared and frustrated. Early on Monday morning we had no option but to let him go to a better place and he is now at peace and out of pain and has been buried on the farm having been p.t.s by our Vet. He wasn’t even 8 months old and with all his disabilities he was, for most of his time with us, a happy and playful kitten and will be sorely missed by all of us.

Thank you: We would like to thank all those who assisted us with some of his medical bills especially our one donor who paid for his original visit to the Jhb Animal Eye Hospital where we established that his left eye was causing no pain and although there was no sight in that eye it did not need to be removed. If anyone can please make a donation in memory of darling Eeyore it would greatly assist us in paying off the Vet bills for both Eeyore and Dody, our teenager who passed away a couple of weeks ago from possibly F.I.P.

Video: Nadja and Nandi seen playing in the box, a video taken yesterday, were a week ago both at the vets for the whole day with Nadja on a drip. They then had to visit the vet for injections daily for the past week and appeared to be recovering from a secondary infection having had the snuffles previously but Sunday evening Nandi had a set-back and both were back at the vet on Monday morning but now back at home and happily playing with the box.

Kittens are so resilient but very vulnerable up to the age of 12 weeks.
Then we have another litter of 4 who are currently in foster care and will be ready to be homed in about 3 to 4 weeks once they have had their 1st vaccinations at 8 weeks of age.

Adoptions: Approved adoption applications and home-checks apply whether it be for any of the kittens, teenagers or adult cats at the shelter.

Our adoption fee of R850 covers 1st and 2nd vacs. as well as rabies, deworming, deflea, and sterilisation when done by one of our nominated Vets.

Donations: Food donations handed into Biz Express or put into our bin just inside the doors of our local Pick’n Pay are still down. Huge thanks though to the donor of the Pampers kibbles and 2 boxes of Whiskas pouches handed to Biz Xpress and to the 2 donors who put food into the Pick’nPay bin.

Play Video

Financial Donations to either:
Judy David or Cats Galore
Standard Bank
Branch code: 051001
Cheque a/c no. 002982846
Ben. Ref: “CG + cell number”
Or
Friends of Ferals
FNB
a/c no. 627 5435 9852
Branch: 250 655
Ben. Ref: “CG + Cell number”

Proof of payments to either: Judy 083 611 1333 or judy.e.david@gmail.com

Judy
083 611 1333
Judy.e.david@gmail.com

October 6, 2020October 6, 2020

FERAL CATS, RESCUES & OTHERS – 6 OCT 2020

I was trapping at 4 am this morning, and then at 6 am I had a call about a sick kitten so by 8 am I was at 3 different vets and by 10 am I managed to get home to this article. I have a lot on my plate for the rest of the day so short and sweet this week.

Pictures here are of Pablo who is doing well and has physio sessions 2 or 3 times a day for 30 minutes which involves taking off the bandaging, which he loves, but then we struggle to put the bandage back on after his session. He is now allowed to go into a larger space tho’ still with no jumping or fast movements and he is taken outdoors in the kitten pen whenever possible. He then watches the birds fly past and many of our free-roaming cats visit him.

Eeyore: is coping whilst we try and raise funds for the next procedures that need to be done to try and establish why he is struggling with paralysis in his back legs.

Donations: Food donations handed into Biz Express or put into our bin just inside the doors of our local Pick ’n Pay have been almost non-existent this past few weeks, but to those who did donate, a huge thanks. Whether it be a single pouch, a tin or bag of dry food, it is all greatly appreciated and much needed.

Adoptions: Approved adoption applications and home-checks apply.
Our adoption fee of R850 covers 1st and 2nd vacs. as well as rabies, deworming, deflea, and sterilisation when done by one of our nominated Vets.

Financials Donations to either:
Judy David or Cats Galore
Standard Bank
Branch code: 051001
Cheque a/c no. 002982846
Ben. Ref: “CG + cell number”
Or
Friends of Ferals
FNB
a/c no. 627 5435 9852
Branch: 250 655
Ben. Ref: “CG + Cell number”

Proof of payments to either: Judy 083 611 1333 or judy.e.david@gmail.com

Judy
083 611 1333
Judy.e.david@gmail.com

September 29, 2020September 30, 2020

CAROLE’S CAT CHRONICLES – 29 SEP 2020

Sad and heart wrenching news from last week. Grey Cat, our 8 year old boy had gone missing about three weeks ago. He was always the first to come for supper and hung out with Fluffy our black cat, at the Leaping Frog centre, around the back by the generators.

Every day the volunteers used to tell me he was still missing. I couldn’t understand why he was not coming for supper. After nearly a month I believed he had come to some harm, but nothing prepared me for the day one of the guards called me over to say a bad smell was coming from inside one of the generators, which he unlocked for me to look inside. I saw Grey cat’s body lying on the floor. I came to the horrific realisation that somehow he got inside and had been electrocuted by the bare wires. I saw his face and it haunts me still. I pray he died instantly.

I had to get his body out so I climbed down into the generator, which was a risk with the live wires which I carefully avoided and lifted his body out onto the pavement. Fortunately one of my new volunteers was with me and had a blanket, which we wrapped him in.

Below some images of the generator inside

I called another volunteer to come with plastic bags to ensure his body was completely secured before phoning the vet. I asked them if they would take him in for cremation the next day. They asked me to ensure his body was well wrapped and that they would take him in. I was so grateful as I wanted to make sure his body would be treated with respect in death.

This whole incident lays heavy on my heart. He must have taken refuge inside the warm generator on one of those bitterly cold nights we had in late August. I can only say at least we have closure.

There is no doubt that feral cats experience such difficult hardships in their lifetime. If only we could help them more. I always want to create a warm place for them to go to, but shopping centre management will not allow igloos and the like…….. this could have been avoided if Grey Cat had a warm place to rest. Also the Generators should NOT HAVE LIVE WIRES, that is a serious HAZARD.

DONATIONS

There have been very little donations in the red bin at VET TO PET this past 3 weeks. Please remember, if you are able, to drop in a can of food or a packet of pellets to help towards the feeding programme. If you would like to make a monetary donation, either a once off or regular amount, here are the banking details:
HOMELESS CAT PROJECT
STANDARD BANK FOURWAYS CROSSING
A/C 20 494 9270
C.M. BARRETO

Many thanks to all of you who support this initiative.

CAROLE
0824242363

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September 29, 2020September 29, 2020

FERAL CATS, RESCUES & OTHERS 29 SEP 2020

Updates:
Our local feral at the Engen Garage has now had a change from winter bedding to summer bedding and she likes to sit on top of her igloo to watch everything that goes on at the garage. She is, by the way, Grandmother to my own cat, Peanut, rescued from the back of Pick’nPay some 10 years ago.

Pablo went back to the Johannesburg Specialist Vet where he had his operation and they are extremely pleased with his progress and have said his confined space can be enlarged, which Pablo himself is extremely happy about tho’ still a few more weeks of rehab before he can go to his potential adopter.

Winter’s eye operation, as well as the removal of a few teeth that were coming in contact with the benign lump beneath her tongue, has to date also been a success and she now has no eye irritation and is eating well. Unfortunately she has white skin surrounding both eyes and loves to lie in the sun which can cause cancer so we have to apply sunscreen.

Flicker who had an abscess on top of his head which was treated leaving no hair on the top of this very handsome boy’s head is almost back to his former macho self. Flicker is our Welcoming Committee of one.

Eeyore was also at the Specialist Vet for the paralysis in his back legs and unfortunately it will entail a lot of procedures to be done in order to get a diagnosis which for the moment we cannot afford. First would be full bloods, then possibly x-rays and scans and finally, possibly, an MRI.

Photos this week are of two of our very healthy young male cats at the shelter still awaiting their forever homes. Both are stunning cats and for some reason always overlooked. TomTom a beautiful ginger male of about 2 years of age who loves both cats and humans and lives in a cabana enclosure with a couple of other males and several females and is very friendly with all. He came to the shelter in June 2019 having appeared out of the blue in someone’s garden and brought to us. As usual not sterilised which is why he was wandering and became lost. Now sterilised, vaccinated and tested for FIV and negative. Clean bill of health. He is sociable, loveable, confident and talkative. He adores humans and their company, still very playful and good with children.

Then we have Jimmy who came to the cattery with his mother, aunt and sister felines in November 2018. He’s now about 3 years old, again not sterilised at the time but is now, as well as vaccinated and negative for FIV. Their original owner never returned to take them home. He shares a cabana with several other cats but tends to keep to himself but does like human interaction but never pushes himself to the front even when there is food involved. An utter gentleman with great respect for the other felines with him. He’s confident but very polite. Why these two get overlooked each time I don’t know.

Approved adoption applications and home-checks apply and don’t forget we have some other 90 teenage and adult cats looking for homes. Come visit us in Hennopsrivier and bring a picnic.
Our adoption fee of R850 covers 1st and 2nd vacs. as well as rabies, deworming, deflea, and sterilization when done by one of our nominated Vets.
With on-going medical bills to pay we are struggling to survive from week to week so please any financial assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Donations either to
Judy David or Cats Galore
Standard Bank
Branch code: 051001
Cheque a/c no. 002982846
Ben. Ref: “CG + cell number”
Or
Friends of Ferals
FNB
a/c no. 627 5435 9852
Branch: 250 655
Ben. Ref: “CG + Cell number”

Proof of payments to either: Judy 083 611 1333 or judy.e.david@gmail.com

Judy
083 611 1333
Judy.e.david@gmail.com

September 22, 2020September 22, 2020

FERAL CATS, RESCUES & OTHERS 22 SEP 2020

Last week the link to our website did not appear in the LRA newsletter so please read the article below of last week written 15 September.

Pablo on Sunday was taken outside to get some fresh air and to enjoy the presence of other cats around him and even had a visitor to interact with him. Pablo is back to the specialist on Wednesday for another check-up and unfortunately we need to take Eeyore who is not growing and seems to have some sort of paralysis in his back legs. Eeyore came to us in February and is blind in one eye.

Our Vet bills are horrendous and we are not coping, what with also trying to feed and care for our some 90 cats. I need to pay Vet bills before we take in more sick cats. Any donations no matter how small will greatly assist and they add up. Please help.

Donations either to
Cats Galore
Standard Bank
Branch code: 051001
Cheque a/c no. 002982846
Ben. Ref: “CG + cell number”
Or
Friends of Ferals
FNB
a/c no. 627 5435 9852
Branch: 250 655
Ben. Ref: “CG + Cell number”

Proof of payments to either: Judy 083 611 1333 or judy.e.david@gmail.com

Judy
083 611 1333
Judy.e.david@gmail.com

September 15, 2020September 15, 2020

FERAL CATS, RESCUES & OTHERS 15 SEP 2020

Pablo, the XMaine Coon mentioned in previous articles is now back at the shelter and very frustrated with being confined to a small space and hates the splint and cast he has to endure for still some time yet. To distract him from his current predicament he is being given lots of love and attention and adores having visitors. He has to have the dressing changed every 5 days. Altho’ grumpy from time to time, he is still affectionate as ever.
Sadly our Dody also previously mentioned had to be p.t.s last week. There is no definite diagnosis or test for FIP but he had all the symptoms of the wet form and was struggling to breath, with fluid on some of his organs, though right to the end he was happy to eat the special treats taken to him. He is in a better place but will be sorely missed by not only us, his human carers, but also his 2 playmates in his enclosure. Fly fee with the butterflies my boy, we loved you very much.

KITTENS: below are some more photos of our current litter (also mentioned last week) up for adoption in about another 2-3 weeks after their first vaccinations. Definitely a litter from a domestic mom, although found abandoned, as no hissing or claws extended etc. Although their characters and personalities are still forming Nadja, a long haired female, loves sitting on your shoulder, is sweet natured and gentle, loves playing with any of her siblings and is quite adventurous.

Nandi, also a long-haired female, again adventurous and loves tummy rubs.

Colin and Lazlo, both males, tend to be, for the moment, lap cats, your lap being their favourite place to nap. Colin, typical ginger, tends to be the first to investigate anything and first in line for everything. Lazlo is very vocal and loves playing with either of his sisters. All 4 of them love human interaction and are well socialised.

September 9, 2020September 9, 2020

FERAL CATS, RESCUES & OTHERS 8 SEP 2020

Over the weekend we had another one of our cats, Dody, a 12 month old, fall desperately ill and our local vet did not have the equipment to care for him so Dody too went to the same Jhb Specialist Vet Centre as Pablo on Monday morning and is currently in their care.

We, as yet, have no clear diagnosis and tests are on-going. Any surplus funds from Pablo’s plea, Pablo says he wishes them to go to his friend Dody. This is to go towards Dody’s cost of X-rays, scans, meds and his 24 hour care, however, we still need to find another R5000-8000. Please any assistance in this regard would be greatly appreciated, no matter how small.

Pablo, the XMaine Coon mentioned 26 August, went to the Johannesburg Specialist Veterinary Centre on Monday morning for his surgical procedure.

We were on tenterhooks all day not knowing whether the old injury of a dislocated elbow could be fixed or whether the leg would need to be amputated! Because the operation was a little more complicated and intricate than most, Pablo only went into surgery at 17h30 and we got the NEWS at 18h40 – no amputation, what a relief.

There were no viable tendons or ligaments so the surgical team had to ‘make’ some and attach them to the elbow. The surgeon feels the operation was a success and that although Pablo may limp from time to time and possibly have a little arthritis he will now be able to walk and without pain.

The operation is costing us round R14,400 which being an NPO is a discounted rate. This amount we managed to raise via this newsletter and by the plea on our Facebook page. Pablo needs to keep on his cast for at least 3 weeks but will then be up for adoption.

KITTEN season has opened: more details next week but I put a litter of 4 kittens into foster care on Sunday, photos below. They will be up for adoption at 8 weeks of age. Named by the foster parents after the characters in Shadows (never heard of it – nor have I). Currently just over 3 weeks of age. Nadja, long-haired tabby female. Nandor, renamed Nandi as female, also long-haired tabby. Lazlo, short-haired male tabby and Colin, short-haired male ginger tabby.

Adoptions: Approved adoption applications and home-checks apply.
Our adoption fee of R850 covers 1st and 2nd vacs. as well as rabies, deworming, deflea, and sterilization when done by one of our nominated Vets.

Donations either to
Cats Galore
Standard Bank
Branch code: 051001
Cheque a/c no. 002982846
Ben. Ref: “CG + cell number”
Or
Friends of Ferals
FNB
a/c no. 627 5435 9852
Branch: 250 655
Ben. Ref: “CG + Cell number”

Proof of payments to either: Judy 083 611 1333 or judy.e.david@gmail.com

Judy
083 611 1333
Judy.e.david@gmail.com